20 NYC schools starting Software Engineering Pilot program next year

Back in our day, software engineering training in junior high and high school meant a couple of Apple IIs and a game of Snake on our graphing calculators (if we were lucky). These days, it's becoming something of a necessity for students, and New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is looking to get out in front of the curve, with the launch of the city's new Software Engineering Pilot program, a curriculum set to kick off at the beginning of the next school year. The program, which will serve 1,000 students (that number jumping to 3,500 in 2016), was designed to help kids prepare for higher education and jobs in the tech sector. We've got to admit, we're feeling a bit jealous of the list of topics, which includes not only things like programming and web design, but also embedded electronics, robotics, animation and 3D printing. The full list of schools can be found in the press release after the break.